


Glow

by HanzoShimada4484



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, SEP Program, Slow Burn, Will add tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-07 03:37:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14662506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HanzoShimada4484/pseuds/HanzoShimada4484
Summary: You are going through the Secret SEP Super Soldier program alongside Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison.





	1. 24

**Author's Note:**

> Just a self indulgent fic. I don't see enough SEP content, so I wanted to write my own!
> 
> Can't wait to write about Gabe in the soldier 24 outfit... yummy, I love it!!!!

Gabriel's POV

Thick IV cords and other monitoring lines tangled over his arms and chest. The fluids they were testing him with this time made his skin burn and his mouth dry. His chest was tight and sweat rolled down this tan flesh.

He had already called for the nurse, but she said these symptoms were to be expected and he should just wait them out. He felt anxious. He had heard of the first casualty last week and didn’t want to join him. He remembered the frantic screams and desperate nurses calling for assistance. He didn’t want to die that way.

The quiet beeping of the monitors pulled him out of those dark thoughts, distracting him and reminding him of the thickness in his throat.  


His eyes wandered to the curtain on his right. It was a periwinkle color and looked much like his own hospital gown. There was a person on the other side getting a treatment much similar to his own. He didn’t know who they were. Their schedules had been different, but all he did know about them was that they were quiet. He hadn’t heard them talk at all since they had been brought in. Was the treatment that rough to affect their speech?

He worried. Even if he didn't know who his neighbor was, it didn’t stop him from hoping they weren’t the next casualty.

Soldier 24's tongue felt stuck in his mouth from being so dry. He had plenty of water that morning, but he still felt severely dehydrated. A symptom, he supposed. A symptom he would have to do his best to relieve on his own.

He reached for the water bottle on the side table, but misjudged the distance and knocked it off, hearing the bottle roll underneath the curtain.

Fuck.

He couldn’t move anything more than his arm, so getting up to retrieve it was going to be an issue. He would have to miss out then; wait till someone brought another by. He grimaced at the thought of having to wait for water and felt his chapped bottom lip split open, blood welling to the surface. He could feel It on his tongue when he tried to lick it up, not wanting it to get in his beard. The lack of saliva made him taste copper strongly throughout his mouth.

He froze when he heard shifting from the other side of the curtain. Guilt gnawed at him for a moment. Did he bother them? If they weren’t doing so hot, the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse.

What he didn’t expect to hear was the soft tap of bare feet against the ground and soft steps toward the curtain. He tried not to choke on his slightly labored breathing as the curtain shifted a bit and was pulled open.

She stood there with his water bottle in hand. It was a woman on the other side of that curtain? That would have shocked him the most if it wasn’t for the fact that she was so small. She was leaner than he thought they would be, male or female. Gabe wondered how she even survived the first round of injections, being as petite as she was.

Her skin was flushed pale save for the dark red blotches on her cheeks. Dark bags hung under her eyes and her forehead glimmered with sweat, some locks of her bangs clinging to it.

She eyed him curiously, her gaze flicking about him with interest, then sadness. As she took in his condition, she let out a sigh through her nose before making her way closer to him.

He noticed the limp. She favored her right side. How she was able to walk though, was beyond him. His muscles were so tight and stiff, he could barely move at all, yet she was able to bring him his water with no complications aside from a slight limp. Was she even getting the same treatment as him?

She gently placed the plastic bottle in his open hand that rested at his side. He attempted to give his thanks, but speaking was difficult, resulting in a garbled mess of sounds. He grimaced in embarrassment before giving up and attempting to open his water.

His other hand wouldn’t move.

He tried to use his only working hand to twist the cap, but his fingers shook with strain.

“Damn…”

He swore he wouldn’t cry, but the frustration was getting to be too much as well as the misery he felt in his mouth.

Sensing his irritation, she took the bottle from him to twist off the cap with ease, holding it up to his mouth so his arm could rest.

Gabriel latched on immediately, draining the contents and nearly cried from the relief. The crackling of the plastic disappointed him, signaling it’s emptiness. She smiled sweetly, an Angel, he thought to himself as she tossed the bottle underhand into the trash.  


“Thank you…”  


He said, his ragged voice making it no more than a whisper.  


She didn’t speak, but took his weak hand in hers, massaging the tense muscles. Goosebumps littered his flesh at the pleasurable sensation.  


Why was she doing this?  


Her soft skin was comforting against his own. It was almost like when his mother sat with him at the hospital. He had broken his leg during a fight. His Mama would do the same, running her fingers through his hair or rub his arms reassuringly.  


“What… are you… doing?”  


She glanced worriedly at him, hoping she didn’t upset him, but seeing that he didn’t tell her to stop or pull away, she continued.  


She moved up his arm, releasing the tension and helping him move it easier. He flexed his fingers, but it didn’t help to soreness for long, feeling it creep back into his joints. It was a temporary relief.  


“It helps.”  


She whispered very quietly. He might not have caught it if he hadn’t held his breath for a moment.  


She heard a creak in the hallway, probably one of the researchers. It wouldn’t have bothered him, but the shock and horror written on her face said something different about what was happening to her. She pulled back from him and struggled to hurry back to her side of the curtain.  


She had gotten into bed, the soft thud of her body against the mattress. The door to their room opened and as she had assumed, Gabriel’s curtain wasn’t the one that was pulled open.  


His consciousness drifted suddenly. He blacked out wondering what happened to her.  
***  


“Gabriel! Reyes, wake up!”  


He blinked furiously, trying to refocus his eyes. He knew it was Morrison from that excitedly optimistic voice. Of course it was good old Jack.  
Jack, or 76, was one of the only people that had kept him sane as much as he wanted to pretend he annoyed him. He always had to put down the tough guy act around Jack. That guy brought out the best in people; he brought out the best in Gabe.  


“Mmhh? What is it, Jackie?”  


Morrison smirked. He liked that nickname more than he'll ever admit. Gabe just knew how to pull his heartstrings just the right way.  


“Breakfast. If you miss it, you miss it. It’s the most important meal of the day.”  
Gabriel rolled his eyes.  


“You sound like my mother.”  
Jack ruffled the dark chocolate locks that rested messily on his forehead.  


“Well your mother sounds like an intelligent woman, you think?”  


Once again he found himself rolling his eyes.

His Mama was a beast of a woman. If she ever found out he spoke wrong about his mother, even now as a man in his thirties, she would kick his ass. He would have no choice but to let her.  


“No comment.” He attempted to sit up. He felt better, surprisingly, but still felt sore.  


“Up you go, Gabi.”  


Jack latched an arm around Gabriel’s waist and helped him up out of bed, gently letting his feet adjust to his weight on the floor before letting him on his own. Gabe was thankful for this. His sore muscles ached with every move, but the thought of solid food in his stomach was enough motivation to follow Jack.  


Sitting down with his tray, he eyed Jack warily as he watched the man scarf his food down.  
“What?”  


He said in a muffled tone, his cheeks puffed out from the biscuit he shoved into his mouth.  


“Could you not eat like a packrat for once in your life?”  


Was it embarrassing to sit near such a human? Yes. 

Gabe couldn’t help but chuckle as 76 covered his face with a napkin to finish chewing.  


“Stop watching me eat!” Jack muffled from underneath the napkin.  


“Stop eating so dramatically then! This isn’t a play!”  


After swallowing, Jack smirked.  


“Gabe, I have yet to see you act. You constantly make references to plays or operas. You a’ actor before the war?”  


Gabe sat on that thought for a moment. No. He hadn’t actually been an actor. He made props and costumes for the characters, which in his opinion was the most important part of the play. He felt that the costume made the character. It would have to stand out, be unique, and he unforgettable.  
He made the unforgettable costumes. They were beautiful. They were used in movies, plays, operas, tv shows, music videos, you name it.  


“Costume designer.”  


He held himself back. If he got too passionate, he’d scare him off. Jack seemed pleased with that answer, to his surprise.  


“Sweet! You’ll have to make me something cool after all of this. Make me look like a total badass. What do ya think?”  


Gabe laughed, his heart swelling as he did his best to contain himself. Clapping a hand on Morrison's shoulder, he answered.  


“Yeah. If we make it out of this, I’ll make you the most bad ass outfit. The entire world will see it and wish they could be in your pants!”  


Jack huffed.  


“Pshh, that’s already happening, Gabe.”  


He scratched his beard before digging into the eggs. 

After the first bite, he realized how hungry he really was. He wasn’t going to eat like Jack though, despite how ravenously hungry he was.  


“So who is the one next to ya?”  


He eyed Jack, still chewing, letting him guess the huge question mark on his face.  


“Your roommate. The quiet one.”  
Gabriel nodded, setting down his fork.  


“A skinny thing. I’m surprised she is still alive through these treatments unless hers are specialized for her size. She could walk during the treatment.”  


Jack paused.  


“I handle these treatments better than most people here and I couldn’t walk yesterday. How in the hell did she walk? Are we getting the same thing?”  


That was Gabriel’s thought as well. Was she getting the same treatment? The blotches on her face looked like a sickly red and nothing like what he and Jack had.  


“I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s not as ruthless as what we had.”  


Jack gave a thoughtful nod and got up from his seat.  


“I’m gonna put up my tray, be right back.”  
Gabriel watched Jack walk away, pondering about the mess that was his mysterious neighbor.  
Speak of the devil and they shall appear, it seems. She sat two tables down from him, watching the television.  


It was the news. It was never on another channel. She seemed very interested as she ate her eggs, wiping her mouth if any juices or grease slipped past her lips. She seemed fairly modest and polite. He thought about inviting her to his table, but decided against it. He didn’t want to pull her away from her view of the TV.  


He was about to turn his attention to his own food when he noticed the dark bruise on her neck. It wasn’t from a typical injury like a fight. Was it a blown vein or something like that? He had them on his arms before when they were too rough with the IV. A sick feeling fell to the pit of his stomach.  


What did they do to her?  


“Hey, you alright?”  


Jack… Jack’s back already. He looked into his deep blue eyes for a moment, taking in his worry.  


“Yeah, I’m fine. I Just zoned out a bit.”  


When he looked back to her, she had noticed Jack’s concern and also appeared uneasy. Their gazes met for a moment before Gabe nervously looked away, his ears suddenly feeling warm.  


Jack looked surprised, looking back and forth between the two. A smirk tugged his lips as he understood what was happening. He sat down on the other side of the table to block her view so Gabriel could relax.  


“Didn’t take you for the type.”  


Gabe scoffed. Jack was acting like they were in a highschool drama or something of the sort. He wasn’t into her, he was just embarrassed about how intimately close she was the day before. He was far from complaining, though.  


“Don’t be ridiculous.”  


He finished off the rest of his meal before getting up to put up the tray. He walked by her, doing his best not to look , but ultimately failing. 

He laid back in his bed once again, listening to his music player. ACDC's Back in Black was his favorite song and always kept his spirits high while he listened to it. The nodding of his head to the rhythm and the tapping of his toes accompanied the catchy tune. He had just gone through a couple rough treatments, his usual injections included.  


To put the icing on the cake, they made him run on the treadmill to test the effectiveness, further exhausting him. Jack wanted to watch a movie together, but he honestly didn’t have the strength to do so. The nausea in his stomach pressured him to stay in his room, so he didn’t vomit on Jack.  


A shift on the other side of the curtain caught his attention.  


Had she been there the whole time?  


She still wasn’t speaking. Was there something wrong or was she just shy? He sat up, doing his best to stay comfortable through his queasiness. He wondered whether or not he should bother. As concerned as he was, he didn’t want to intrude upon her privacy and open the curtain without her permission. He decided to wait a little longer. She could just be sleeping off injections or testing.  


Gabriel noticed the sudden obsession he had with her. He didn’t believe it was because he liked her, he thought she was mysterious. There was so much about this woman he didn’t know, yet she lived in the same room with him since the beginning of the program. His curiosity was begging to be sated and he had no idea how to respectfully do that.  


A soft grunt tore him from his thoughts to listen intently.  


Was she in pain?? Should I help?  


He got of bed, feeling a little dizzy, and pulled back the curtain without really thinking.


	2. Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You arent used to people nor the kindness he gives you. Its scary like needles. Pry open your skin to tear out the peson you used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have played MGSV you may recognize the abilities the reader has.

I never asked for this. I never wanted to become something inhuman. I just wanted to protect everyone.  
After all of the death… and the pain, it makes you realize that not everyone can get out alive. People will die and you will have to live with that.  
It sucks.  
Now all I can do is stare at my glowing veins and wonder if all of this will be worth it in the end.  
\- Gabriel Reyes

 

Your eyes fluttered open as you regained consciousness, feeling the soreness creep into your limbs as you came back from a pleasant dream, right back into this nightmare. You were disconnected from all of the machinery and IVs that they had hooked up to you for testing and their procedures. You could feel the heat radiating off of your neck where they had stuck you the most with the needles. It had miraculously healed over fairly quickly, but the skin still felt tender, so you were sure there was bruising. People are going to notice, you thought. People were going to question it. Most people left you alone no matter how bad your condition became, it didn’t stop you from being insecure.

You were afraid to look into a mirror. Last time you did, you tasted vomit in your mouth. The nasty red patches on your face and the gross, clammy skin... You looked to be dying, to be fair though, you felt like it. 

You looked back to the curtain when you heard the shuffling of cheap sheets. Twenty-four was still asleep? It was confirmed when you heard the soft snores. You almost forgot the pain as you listened to him breathe. It was comforting to have the company of another person, whether they were awake or not.  


Food sounded really good about now as you struggled to get out of bed, gripping the rails tightly as you pulled yourself up. You had nothing to cover your neck with, causing panic to well up in your chest.  


People would ask.  


People would talk behind your back.  


People would stare.  


You felt sweat drip down your forehead as you stepped out of the room, carefully closing the door to not wake twenty-four. The hallway was surprisingly empty. You didn’t check the time, so you just assumed that it was early. Subjects here tended to sleep in later than usual after harsh testing and you wasn’t usually an exception. It was probably just the desire to get out of that room and away from that god awful equipment that seems to drain the life from you and return something darker.  


The cafeteria opens at 5 A.M. for any employees that are still here at that time of day. It was open to subjects as well.  


You chose the eggs, bacon, strawberry yogurt, and orange juice. It seemed better than the rest of the slop they served. The grits tasted as if it had been cooked in a toilet, the omelets wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t add the expired spinach to it. It didn’t matter. As long as they had something edible here, you wouldn’t complain.  


You sat down where you normally ate, in front of the TV to get a good view of the news. It was good to be in the know about what was happening outside, though it seemed to do nothing but upset you recently. The world looked to be crumbling into chaos by the sound of it. The Omnic war was slowly becoming a much bigger threat than anyone had ever anticipated. More and more people were dying to these machines. Families, friends, pets… there blood was soaked into the dirt of their homes while those machines marched on, claiming more life as they came upon it. That’s what you were training for.  


That’s what you joined the military for.  
That’s what you joined this suicidal program for.  
To stop this.  


You wanted nothing more than to stop hearing innocent children’s screams, crying out for their mother’s corpse to come to life and reassure them that “things would be alright.” You understood that more than you cared to admit, for your family fell to them, too.  
Some grease from the eggs slipped past your lips and dribbled down your chin.  


Disgusting.  


You hated having anything on your face. It made you feel gross and nothing was more important than removing it. You swiped over the mess with a napkin, trying to be sure you got everything.  


You turned to look at the TV, but flinched as the pain flared up again. You wondered why they had to inject all of that stuff into your neck. Why your neck? You didn’t understand any of this. You weren’t a doctor or a scientist, but you knew it had to have some sort of purpose. 

You couldn’t say you didn’t notice it; how you could focus on something at a fairly far distance and see it as if were up close, that you could slow down their movements and predict where they would move, or that you could suddenly breathe easier when they started the testing and activated that ability they claimed to have given you. Whatever they were injecting into your neck, it was working. It was working wonders for your eyes.  


“Hey, you alright?”  


It was seventy-six, or Jack as everyone seemed to call him. He was a sweet and kind man that did his best to keep everyone in good spirits. He could be gruff and grumpy, but most days, he was the happiest man here, maybe even too happy. He was always with Gabe. You could tell they were close. Maybe they worked together before the program.  


Your breath caught in your throat as you realized he was talking to Twenty-four. Was he alright? You worried that maybe something was wrong with him. Fear crashed through your chest as you prepared yourself to go to him if he had any complications. What you didn’t expect was for him to look right at you. His eyes seemed to widen a bit, but he looked away soon after, the tips of his ears turning red. You could see it all they way from where you sat.  


You suppressed a laugh at the thought of a man as big and gruff as him, be embarrassed over something like eye contact.  


You try to ignore the two men after Jack sits between you, only failing when you felt a gaze at your back only to catch him looking away as he left. What was this game he was playing? Why was he so skittish around you now? Was it the water bottle?  


Did you make him uncomfortable?  


You only dumped your tray when you were sure they were gone, heading straight back to your room for another set of injections and testing. You felt your throat tighten as you remembered that you were going to have to be stuck with each one of those needles again. One by one into your neck as you whine and writhe against the straps, holding down your arms and head.  


No more! No more! You would wail as they stuck one more, and then one more.  


You were at your door, sweaty hands pushing it open and revealing the enormous curtain that separated the two beds. Gabe’s was on the right and yours was on the left and for the record, you wished you could trade places with him. Being paralyzed? You could do that. 

Climbing into your own bed, you kicked off your slippers and sighed, trying to relieve some of the tension in your chest. It was only helpful for a second, making you feel no different afterwards.  


The door creaked open and you knew it was them. 

They were here to do it again. You wanted to scream, but instead, clenched your teeth and tried to remain as calm as you could. it would be miserable for a bit, but you always passed out as they stuck you. It would be over soon, you promised yourself.  


“Hello there, my dear! I see we have been progressing well! Your vision exam came back with positive results and I am pleased to tell you that you could now figuratively fire a sniper rifle without the scope! Its quite incredible isn’t it?”  


You couldn’t answer. What were you supposed to say to that? That this was all great and dandy and that you couldn’t wait to use this ability in the field? No. You weren’t going to say any of that.  


“Excuse me for droning on-“  


He was talking?  


“Now we are going to be giving this one more go to see if we can make any noticeable changes to your current condition concerning your vision and then we will move on to a couple other tests we had in mind.”  


Here they come.  


The ladies with needles. You could never truly prepare yourself for these things. Long and sharp and ready to fill you full of cold fluid that chilled you to the bone. It did nothing to numb the agonizing pain from the injection site, however.  


Your wrists were strapped down once again along with your head, your chest, and your feet for good measure. And here it is. The first and worst one to be pushed in. it was thick; thick enough to be a glorified tack being shoved into the skin, as much as It felt like a struggle to push in, it actually slipped in fairly quickly, finding home in whatever muscle or wherever the point of this was.  


You were surprised your teeth weren’t cracking nor your gums bleeding afer all of the grinding and clenching you had been wearing on them.  
The second and the third, followed by the fourth dug there way inside. A switch was flipped and you could feel it, feel them beginning to drip with fluid inside of you. Why haven’t you passed out yet?  


Why are you still awake?  


You looked to the doctor in confusion and panic. He made like he was trying to disregard you, but shook his head and leaned over you.  


“I need you awake this time, sweetie. No getting out of this one.”  


You felt it, those dark marks that formed around your eyes during these tests or when you looked very closely at someone. You could feel it crawling across your skin like bugs.  


“Ah, this is the progress I have been looking for, See that? It almost looks like a butterfly doesn’t it? A beautiful insect, for a beautiful lady, would you say?” the nurses murmured pathetically behind him, whatever this ting was, it wasn’t beautiful, it was ugly. A mask of dirty brown stretched over your eyes to strengthen your sight, probably trying to help you escape the situation you were in. Being tied down, there wasn’t much the eyes could help.  


He hooked his clipboard to the wall.  


“We are going to step out until these get close to empty. If you need anything, the buzzer is near your right hand. Do not buzz if it is not an emergency or you will find yourself on chore duty in your spare time."  
With that, he left and he nurses followed him like loyal dogs  


A few minutes passed, feeling like hours as the icy magma rivered through your veins. When were they going to take it out? You wanted to be as quiet as you could, but couldn’t help the small grunts or whines that slipped through your lips.  


The door opened once more. Thank god, maybe they were back, glancing at your IV bags that surely wasn’t the case. It was probably Gabriel. You hoped not. You really didn’t want him to hear you or be curious enough to see the monstrosity you were right now.  


You heard the soft thud of his bed and the scraping of something against the bedside table. His music player? You were certain that was the sound it made when he picked it up.  


You could hear it through the headphones. ACDC. He listened to it a lot. It wasn’t your favorite, but it was pretty fucking close.  


A sharp pain made you flinch, making just a bit of noise on accident. It then resulted in pulling against the cords, shifting the needles and causing them to dig deeper made you let out a whine. When you heard the shift on the other side of the curtain, you hoped to god Twenty-four had both his earbuds in. if not, he would surely hear you.  


Soft patter of feet against the tile made you bite your lips in hopes that he would leave, but it was too good to be true.  


He pulled back the curtain.  


Twenty-four stood before you in a tank top and basketball shorts joined only by the horrified look on his face.  


He saw.  


He saw everything and now he’s disgusted by you. Disgusted by the smears of brown staining your skin, swirling like a Rorschach. It was maddening just how badly you wanted him to go away, to not look at you in this helpless, pathetic state.  


A warm hand rested on your head, stroking hair slick with sweat, brushing some of it out of your eyes. He ran his fingertips over your scalp, your body tingled with delight. Under normal circumstances, you would be putty in his palm, but the pain was very sobering and kept you attached long enough to the earth to warn him about the trouble he could face by witnessing the treatment she was under.  


It seemed like every time you made an attempt to speak, he would cut you off, whispering sweet things.  


“Relax, it’s alright. I gotch’ya, just breath, that’s it.”  


His thumb stoked your hand almost lovingly, it distracted you for only a moment.  


“It’s going to be ok.”  


“You shouldn’t be here,” you whispered  
“They will know and they will punish you.”  


Twenty-four, or Gabe is what Jack calls him, scowled and gripped your hand tighter. His hands were warm, so warm that they almost burned.  


You had thought you made him uncomfortable.  


You had thought he wanted to avoid you.  
It seemed you were wrong as he stroked your head like you were some kind of cat.  


“You helped me back there. I thought it’d be fair for me to return the favor”  


You wanted to tell him that this was stupid, but cant as you felt your throat close and your eyes water. He didn’t need to repay you for anything. He didn’t owe you anything for what you did for him that day. You both were going through this hell together and you were not going to purposely let him suffer. You were too good of a person to do that.  


Thankful tears ran down your cheeks as he lulled you to sleep with his kind words and gentle touches. It was strange. You were so used to falling asleep from the pain, you never expected to be sleeping by the soft touches of your neighbor.

**********

You awoke once more that day to no needles and no red blotches on your face. You didn’t feel as sore in your neck and could touch it with no pain surprisingly. You figured they gave you something to heal faster. How nice of them.  


You struggled to sit up again, feeling an intense wave of nausea that had you falling to your knees over your trashcan and hurling up your breakfast. Well, more room for dinner since the time was well past lunch. You guessed another attempt to eat wouldn’t hurt since emptying your stomach has made you feel hungry. You wouldn’t think you would be so ready to eat after regurgitating everything, but the nausea you felt in this place had a tendency to come and go at very unpredictable speeds. On you went down the dimly lit hallway filled with the sounds of groans.  


Treatment time.  


Yours was a little different from the others, schedule-wise. It was done in groups. Some finished earlier than others and some get stuck way into the hours of the night. These were the unlucky ones, you supposed.  


You had grabbed your tray off of the counter, it had more light foods than you usually ate for dinner. You figured it would be better for your stomach. Going to sit where you usually sat, you noticed Jack and Gabe out of the corner of your eye.  


You wished you could ask to sit with them. You wished you had the courage to just walk up to them like many other people did. You just couldn’t, so you were stuck standing there, contemplating the two choices. 

Your tongue felt heavy in your mouth as you took another step towards them in favor of your own spot.  


You would bother them.  


You would annoy them.  


No. You needed to shake those thoughts if you had any chance at this. You wanted to get to know him more. You wanted to thank him for earlier.  


Oh, no.

Jack looked up from his conversation you see you awkwardly standing, there staring at them. A mischievous smile tugged at his lips as he waved you over. Which was great because you felt more comfortable being invited rather than invading their space.  


“Why hello, miss! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sit with someone else! I’m honored.”  


Jack patted a hand on your back as you sat down beside him. You had to admit, as much as you loved eating alone, you were glad to finally have some company at the cafeteria. Eating alone was great. You didn’t have to worry about engaging in conversation when you were trying to eat. No one was watching you eat or get anything on your face. It was great, but something about these two made it worth it.  


You weren’t quite sure what to say to him, so you took a bite of your potatoes.  


“Are you feeling any better after… that?”  


He brought it up. You wanted to exhale to relieve some of the pressure in your chest, but didn’t want to seem rude.  


“About that, I wanted to thank you. I’m doing much better today.”  


You weren’t really used to talking that much. It was getting weird to hear your own voice.  


Gabe’s expression softened.  


“Good. I hadn’t seen anything like that before. It looked scary. I don’t know how you do it.”  


You looked over to Jack who looked very curious as if he wanted to ask, but kept his mouth shut. You all had your demons here and that treatment was yours. It haunted your dreams.  


Jack asked you where you were from and that he was from Indiana. Gabe pitched in, saying he was from LA. 

You? You were from good ol’ Florida where all of the craziness happens. You thought that you may still have family around there somewhere, but the war has displaced so many people, you doubted you’d find them anytime soon.  


“Florida.”  


He made an amused face at the thought of some little, quiet girl being from Florida, a busy, bright, place full of out going people.  


“Alright, what did you do before the program? Or military if you had time there?”  


You were an artist and a writer. After the war started to kick up, no one had time or money for art nor books. They poured their money and interest into the politics and preparing for the war that was sure to take many lives. You agreed with it. You put away your brushes, pencils, and pens and were trying to make some sort of difference. While to trained to fight, they took your family. The machines. They attacked many places all over the globe and out of all the places they could be, your house was in the crossfire. Your family had to pay with their blood.  


“Artist.”  


Jack’s expression softened a bit, probably understanding what happened without you having to say anything about your career’s downfall.  


“I lost my family to those things. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Sometimes I have doubts that this… is it. To kill those robots, you need to be stronger than a normal human. If this can help me do that, then I suppose it is.”  


Gabe’s expression was heartbreaking. Did he lose anyone? Maybe he had his own doubts about being here.  


“I have been lucky to not lose any of my family yet. I have lost a few of my close friends… I want to protect people too, same as Jack. That’s what a lot of us are here for. We want to become stronger so we can help instead of running away or standing by the sidelines to watch it all happen.”  


You never thought you’d hear something like that from Gabe. You figured the gruff exterior really was just for show. He was very straightforward and didn’t hesitate to share his thoughts. You liked that about a person.  


Jack cut in for a moment.  


“Do you guys want to see a movie? My nurse brought one in that looked interesting. I figured I would watch it with some friends. What do you say?”  
Going to jacks room!? You hadn’t been to another subject’s room before. Was that even allowed? You haf to thank him though. Talking about sad things in a place like this made you feel awful. Jack seemed to know exactly when to change the topic.  


“Are you sure that-“  


Gabe chucked and grabbed your shoulder from across the table. “It’s fine. I go to Jackie’s all the time.”  


You were definitely reassured by that as you wondered where he could possibly be when he wasn’t there.  


“If the movie sucks, I promise you can leave.”  


Jack winked. No. He wasn’t going to let you leave until you’ve suffered through the whole movie. You finished your dinner, knowing whether or not the movie was crap, you were going to enjoy yourself regardless.  


“By the way, what number are you? You don’t have it on your outfit or door?” Jack asked, his bright blue eyes brimming with curiosity.  


“The doctors call me 52. Soldier 52.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quiet is my favorite Metal Gear character. I wanted to write about her for a while, so i suppose this is a good compromise. 
> 
> Reader will not breathe from her skin like quiet but will eventually have abilies very similar to her.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!❤

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it so far! Comments, critiques and so on are appreciated!!! ❤
> 
> If you like my work and would like to support me, buy me a coffee! I appreciate you!!! 
> 
> [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y7DOY6)
> 
> If you do and would like to request something to be written or drawn, don't hesitate to ask!!!   
> Thank you for your time!!!


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